I may be an expatriate St. Louisan, but I'm a Cardinal Fan Forever. Mostly, I write haiku recaps of every game. Occasionally, I write longer stuff with pictures. Twitter: @CardinalHaiku

November 2006

For the past 10 or so years, when not writing haikus, I have labored on and off (ok…mostly off) on an as-yet-unpublished novel called Earth City. The novel follows a year in the life of heroine Astrid Lutz, who graduates from college, moves back in with her parents in St. Louis,does temp work, sings karaoke, and dates the lead singer of a Journey
cover band. You can now read two chapters from this opus in print in
the new issue of the Air in the Paragraph Line zine. Jon Konrath, the editor, describes the zine thusly:

_______________________________________________________________

Air in the Paragraph Line
is an anthology of fiction, stories, rants, and tales by up-and-coming
writers who are entertaining, obscure, and cutting-edge. It’s designed
to be readable, enjoyable, and cheap.

Like this:

Ryan Howard has been named NL MVP for 2006, just edging out El Hombre. Congratulations to Ryan on an amazing season! He is from St. Louis after all, so we don’t need to be bitter.

Of course I would have voted for Albert because I know from watching the Cardinals everyday the impact he has on this team and the way he can change a game. It’s not just his bat but his stellar defense, aggressive baserunning, and leadership on and off the field. I haven’t watched Howard enough to compare. Howard’s numbers were a bit better in most areas, but then Albert missed about a month due to injury, too.

Anyway, if Albert gets depressed about this, he can just look at his World Series ring to cheer up.

Like this:

I’m finally off jury duty and am visiting my dad in the great blue state of Missouri. He picked up some Cardinals books to help me keep my eye on the ball during the offseason. The first one I was able to read in about 45 mins today – 101 Reasons to Love the Cardinals by Ron Green, Jr. The book has some great photos, all the important history, and some interesting trivia (for instance, did you know Babe Didrikson once pitched for the Cards?). The writing could be punchier (i.e., entry 68 – The New Ballpark – "The Cardinals took ownership of their new home, adjacent to Busch Stadium, as the 2006 season began. With a classic design that brings together the old and the new, the park keeps alive the history of the Cardinals while offering dramatic views of the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline. It is also called Busch Stadium." Snore).

Since there are only 101 entries, you can imagine some of your favorite moments and players might be left out. I was hoping for an entry on Darrell Porter but had to settle for a cool pic of him at the ’82 victory parade. There’s no entry on new hall of famer Bruce Sutter. Pujols gets an entry, but I thought his 2005 NLCS homer deserved an entry all its own. Vince Coleman gets an entry, but there’s no mention of the killer tarp.

But I won’t quibble too much, because the book succeeds overall. It’s largely a collection of soundbites about the key moments, players, and managers in Cardinal history, and it’s a nice addition to any fan’s bookshelf. It’s a visually stimulating Cliff Notes to the Cardinals.

Have you read this book? Leave your opinion in the comments – especially if you can think of any more key moments or players that were left out.

Like this:

The news I’ve been hoping for all year finally came – The Cards have signed Jim Edmonds to a 2-year deal worth $19 mill! Of course, injuries caused Jim to have a sub-par season, but his leadership is worth a lot to this team and his good looks alone are worth the money for this and many other female Cards fans. Even when he’s not hitting, his presence in center field makes me feel more confident. He really came through in the post-season with key hits and catches, plus he played courageously, having to get shots in his foot before every game. He’s definitely a Cardinal icon and deserves the chance to finish his career with the team (not that he’ll necessarily be finished at 38…as Asia would say, only time will tell).

Let’s hope this is the first of many smart decisions that Walt & Co. make during this off-season.

Like this:

Bill Maher gets on my nerves. I did occasionally enjoy his Politically Incorrect show, but I always found him to be smug and annoying. He has a big head – literally and figuratively. And he seems sleazy. Once I managed to get fan club tix to a Gene Simmons record release party at The Key Club, and Bill was there with some Playboy-type gal who was way too attractive for him. He’s also been in some really bad movies – like Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.

So it doesn’t surprise me that he would diss the Cards on Larry King Live tonight. While talking about the election results, he commented that it reminded him of the World Series. He said it wasn’t that the Cardinals beat the Tigers; it’s that the Tigers beat themselves, and all the Cardinals had to do was run the bases after balls were thrown away. He was trying to make the point that the election results were more about people being dissatisfied with Bush and the war and voting for any change, rather than about any efforts put forth by the Democrats.

It’s disheartening that the Cardinals are still getting no respect, but we fans know the truth. In honor of my jury duty which will hopefully end tomorrow, I say: let the record show that the Cardinals beat the Padres and the heavily-favored Mets just to get to the World Series, and then they beat the Tigers. Those are the facts in this case. The defense rests.

I apologize for my lack of posting but I had to report to Jury Duty last Tuesday and had the bad luck of being assigned to a trial that was scheduled to last 7-8 days but now seems like it may last longer than that. So I am at the courthouse all day and trying to do a little work in the evenings so I don’t fall terribly behind at work. At least the case is interesting and I am enjoying the company of my fellow jurors. TV lies, though – that "Order" part of Law and Order takes way longer than 30 mins.

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